Winter 2015

Jeff Chang - Who We Be: The Colorization of America

How do Americans see race now? How has that changed—and not changed—over the half-century? After eras framed by words like “multicultural” and “post-racial,” do we see each other any more clearly?

Tuesday, March 10, 6:00 - 8:00 p.m., Discovery Hall / 061

Sponsored by: UW Bothell Diversity Council / UW Bothell Initiatives Group / Social Justice Organizers / American and Ethnic Studies - School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences / School of Educational Studies

Jeff Chang has written extensively on culture, politics, the arts, and music.

His first book, Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation, (www.cantstopwonstop.com) garnered many honors, including the American Book Award and the Asian American Literary Award. He edited the book, Total Chaos: The Art and Aesthetics of Hip-Hop. (www.totalchaoshiphop.com)

His new book, Who We Be: The Colorization of America, (whowebe.net) was released on St. Martin's Press in October 2014. He is currently at work on two other book projects: Youth (Picador Big Ideas/Small Books series), and a biography of Bruce Lee (Little, Brown).

Jeff has been a USA Ford Fellow in Literature and a winner of the North Star News Prize. He was named by The Utne Reader as one of "50 Visionaries Who Are Changing Your World". With H. Samy Alim, he was the 2014 winner of the St. Clair Drake Teaching Award at Stanford University.

Jeff co-founded CultureStr/ke (www.culturestrike.net) and ColorLines. (www.colorlines.com) He has written for The Nation, the New York Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, The Believer, Foreign Policy, N+1, Mother Jones, Salon, Slate, Buzzfeed, and Medium, among many others.

Born and raised in Honolulu, Hawai’i, he is a graduate of ‘Iolani School, the University of California at Berkeley, and the University of California at Los Angeles.

He currently serves as the Executive Director of the Institute for Diversity in the Arts at Stanford University.

School of Educational Studies faculty featured in Research in Progress winter seminar series

Research In Progress seminar series featuring UW Bothell investigators discussing their research, are open to interested faculty, students and staff as well as alumni and interested community partners. The aim of this series is to foster interdisciplinary communication/collaboration to increase awareness of work currently being done by UWB faculty. View schedule here.

Autumn 2014

Carrie Tzou - Curriculum Inventor

Carrie Tzou prepares prospective K-12 instructors to teach science using methods that bridge the gap between textbook jargon and what students do outside of school. Read more.

Spring 2014

UW Bothell Announces Two New Schools: Nursing and Health Studies and Educational Studies

Bothell, Wash. – Two new schools have been named at the University of Washington Bothell, completing the transition of all of its academic programs to schools. The Nursing and Health Studies Program is now the School of Nursing and Health Studies, and the Education program is now the School of Educational Studies. The move becomes effective September 16. Read more.

The University of Washington Bothell recently named Workforce Snohomish President and CEO Sue Ambler the 2014 Distinguished Alumnus of the Year. Each year, the university recognizes an alumnus who has exhibited distinguished professional achievements and outstanding community service. Ambler graduated in 1997 with a Master of Education degree from UW Bothell. Michelle Gamboa, chair of the UW Bothell Alumni Council, presented Ambler with the award at the June 15 commencement ceremony.

Autumn 2013

Chinese educators from South China Normal University visit UW Bothell

A delegation of 30 top Chinese educators from South China Normal University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, PR China participated in an Educational Leadership Learning Exchange (ELLE) at UW Bothell. The Chinese educators are involved in a three-year practice-based program of study at SCNU that included this opportunity to learn first-had about school practice and educational administration in the U.S. The UW Bothell Education Program coordinated the academic activities of the delegation as well as arranged visits with many of their educational partners at local schools, school districts, and community organizations. Read more.

First in our Families Digital Stories

On November 4, Jane Van Galen facilitated the campus premiere of the UWB First in our Families Digital Stories. The stories were produced by UWB faculty, staff, and students who were themselves first generation college students. The goals of the project were deepen participants’ own understanding of the experiences of being “First” and to also spark campus conversations about better serving UWB’s many First Generation students. The digital stories are short first-person movies created by each individual participant.

Jane initiated the project in Winter, 2013. Participants met, communicated with each other via a website that included readings and resources about First Generation Students, and began to draft story scripts about their own experiences. In August, the group met for a three day production workshop, facilitated by Jane with the assistance of Andreas Brockhaus and Salem Levesque of UWB’s Learning Technologies. They workshopped story scripts, recorded their stories, and then used video editing software to create their multimedia projects. The workshop ended with a showing of the stories and discussion about what each person learned and about what the group would like to do together to support First Generation stories on campus.

Jane also interviewed each participant in the weeks following the workshop about the experiences of creating their stories and will be co-authoring articles about the process with project participants.

The stories will be available soon on a public website. The project participants hope that their stories encourage others to also tell their story of Being First to add to this collection. Students and alums interested in creating a Digital Story of being a First Generation student can contact Jane at jvangalen@uwb.edu.

Summer 2013

New Study Explores Dropping Out Through Student Perspectives

Student voice adds new dimensions to our understanding of the school dropout issue in a new study released by the Washington Student Oral Histories Project, a research partnership affiliated with the University of Washington Bothell Education Program.

The authors of Pathways to Dropping Out investigated this critical topic by gathering in-depth oral histories from youth, ages 16-22, who had dropped out and were struggling to get back on track. The study is unique in capturing narrative histories of each participant’s school life as it unfolded over time--starting with the earliest memories of kindergarten through dropping out and, in some cases, returning to school. Through systematic analysis of the student narratives, the study identified common patterns of disengagement from school as reflected in the participants’ reported behaviors and attitudes. For example, one salient pattern is that almost all interviewed youth enjoyed their elementary school experience but started to dislike and disengage from school upon entering middle or junior high school. Thus, a large portion of the study participants were “slow faders:” Beginning as early as 6th grade, they skipped significant chunks of school over many years, often maintaining a half-hearted participation in their classes until 11th or 12th grade when they finally dropped out.

What caused the participants to lose interest in and stop attending school? According to the study’s principal investigator, Dr. Antony Smith, the majority of study participants appeared to have entered middle school with some kind of academic vulnerability, such as weak reading or math skills, which led to ongoing frustration, withdrawal of effort, and course failure. In addition, a majority struggled with serious personal or family issues that interfered with their ability to be successful in school. “Typically, there was no one factor alone that initiated serious disengagement from school. Rather, a perfect storm of family, individual, and school factors tended to converge and overwhelm students, placing them on a pathway to dropping out.”

The study’s initial report, which is presented in a four-part series, covers the following major topics:

• Part One: Common Patterns - Examines the process of dropping out and the behavioral patterns it encompasses; provides background on the dropout problem and describes the study’s conceptual framework and research methods.
• Part Two: Initiating Points - Outlines in greater detail study findings on how students start down a pathway toward dropping out and describes key “initiating points.”
• Part Three: Tipping Points - Summarizes study findings on “tipping points” associated with the final stage of the dropping out process.
• Part Four: Implications of Study Findings – Discusses practical implications of study findings for schools and communities interested in addressing the dropout issue.

The Washington Student Oral Histories Project is a collaborative partnership between the Education Program at the University of Washington Bothell and Paragon Education Network, a Seattle-based non-profit education change organization. It received funding from the Washington State Partnership Council on Juvenile Justice and the Washington Education Research Association to support its research on dropping out. The Project is currently working on a second study based on an expanded set of interviews with dropped out youth in Western Washington.

Report Availability: The report can be downloaded from the project web site’s Reports Page .

UW Bothell master of education student Joshua Kwon is the institution’s first Martinez Fellow. Kwon, who received his undergraduate degree in mathematics from UW Seattle in 2012, was awarded for his preparation as a high school mathematics teacher. Read more.

Spring 2013

Banks selected as Fellow of the American Educational Research Association

Professor Cherry McGee Banks has been selected as a Fellow of the American Educational Research Association. This represents one of the highest honors that is awarded in the field of educational research. AERA is the premier research association in our field and this award is only offered to the most accomplished senior scholars in educational research.

Dr. Banks is world-renowned for her work in Multicultural Education. Her current research is concerned with teacher self-understanding and intergroup education. Professor Banks has published in numerous journals including the Phi Delta Kappan, Educational Policy, Theory into Practice, and Educational Horizons. She is also associate editor of the Handbook of Research on Multicultural Education and co-editor of Multicultural Education: Issues and Perspectives. Professor Banks serves on several national committees and boards including the American Educational Research Association's Outstanding Book Award Committee and the Board of Examiners for the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education.

Education faculty among Worthington Innovation Fellows

Dr. Jane Van Galen and Dr. Allison Hintz have been awarded a grant for their work, "Digital Bridges: Connected Learning in Teacher Education", from the Worthington Innovation Fellows program. This project will enable participants (from pre-service teachers, to school partners, to university faculty) to imagine together more equitable and vibrant opportunities for diverse students, sparked in part by the creative, connected learning possible with digital technology.

Funding for these exceptional projects was made possible by the generous support of Lois and Richard Worthington through the creation of the Worthington endowment funds. In addition to supporting teaching, research and student scholarships, these endowments have also generously supported the use of technology in innovative programs such as Worthington Innovation Fellows.

Winter 2013

The American Educational Research Association (AERA)

Several Education faculty were presenters and panelists at this year's AERA National Conference in San Francisco. The conference theme was "Education and Poverty: Theory, Research, Policy and Praxis"

Wayne Au:
Panelist: "Using Standards FOR Students: Empowering Teachers and Students in an Era of Centralized Accountability,"

Round table with Anthony Brown: "Your Curriculum Doesn't Count: Texts, Canons, and the Whitening of the Foundations of Curriculum Studies"

Presenter on the Common Core State Standards for the Social Studies SIG Business Meeting.

Presenter: Division C (Learning & Instruction) special session also on the Common Core State Standards. Dr. Au's paper is titled: The Standards Movement Rides Again!: The Social Studies Common Core, Social Justice, and the Politics of Knowledge.

About AERA:
The American Educational Research Association (AERA), a national research society, strives to advance knowledge about education, to encourage scholarly inquiry related to education, and to promote the use of research to improve education and serve the public good.

AERA members are faculty, researchers, graduate students, and other distinguished professionals with rich and diverse expertise in education research. They work in a range of settings from universities and other academic institutions to research institutes, federal and state agencies, school systems, testing companies, and nonprofit organizations. Based on their research, they produce and disseminate knowledge, refine methods and measures, and stimulate translation and practical application of research results.

The Center for Digital Storytelling is coming to UW Bothell

The Center for Digital Storytelling will conduct an Educator Workshop, March 8-10. This is a great opportunity for faculty, students and alumni to be trained by digital storytelling "rock stars" without having to travel to one of their regional centers. The three-day Educator Workshop is designed as a professional development opportunity for K-12 classroom teachers.

Workshop facilitators support each participant in developing a digital story not more than 150 words in length. The creation of these shorter pieces provides hands-on experience with the entire digital storytelling process, including a story circle, script writing and recording, and the production process, using digital technology.

For more information and to register for the Educator Workshop please visit the Center for Digital Storytelling website

Free, public workshops will be held Thursday afternoon, March 7.

Please join Allison Myers of the Center for Digital Storytelling for an introduction to digital storytelling, and a discussion of a variety of methods of implementation in K-12 and University classrooms. Whether you have already experimented with digital storytelling in the classroom or are just discovering it, please join us as we showcase a few programs, share ideas and resources, and experiment with story development.

The two sessions will be held in LB1 203. You are welcome to attend one or both sessions.

2:30 -4:00 p.m.

4:45 - 6:15 p.m.

Autumn 2012

Encyclopedia of Diversity in Education

Four faculty members in the Education Program contributed to the Encyclopedia Encyclopedia of Diversity in Education: Cherry Banks, Wayne Au, Karen Gourd and Carrie Tzou.

The Encyclopedia of Diversity in Education, edited by James Banks, director of the UW Center for Multicultural Education, provides a systematic and logical way to organize and present the state of research on diversity policies, practices, and programs. It gives students, scholars, teachers, and policymakers a place where they can find answers to important questions about diversity in U.S. education, at both the K-12 and post-secondary levels. Diversity is a worldwide phenomenon, and while most of the entries in the Encyclopedia focus on the United States, it also contains entries from different nations in the world. With over 700 signed entries from A-to-Z, (4 volumes, in both print and electronic formats), the Encyclopedia covers the full spectrum of diversity issues including race, class, gender, religion, language, exceptionality, and the global dimensions of diversity as they relate to education.

Carrie Tzou was one of the distinguished panelist on the subject of: Clarifying the Meanings of Diversity and Educating Youth in the Humanities and the Sciences at the UW Center for Multicultural Education 20th Year Celebration and book launch of The Encyclopedia of Diversity in Education, held on the Seattle campus November 9.

Summer 2012

Katie Divito, M.Ed. student, sent her digital story to the Reading with Rover program, and they're using it for training and recruitment and have offered her a scholarship to the next level of training. Below, Katie shares her story:

Searching for your defining moment as a teacher can be a life changing experience. It is often incomprehensible to imagine that an ordinary person could change a single life yet behind the scenes, through constant selfless acts, educators change the lives of many on a daily basis. Stories as Teachers, taught by Professor Jane Van Galen and Vicki North, challenged me to reflect upon my own teaching, identifying a remarkable event that I could share with others through the creation of a digital story.

As a teacher, I am aware of the impact that I have on my students within the walls of my own classroom. Through my actions, I am able to help children develop and acquire the skills necessary to become successful adults in our society. The transformations that I have witnessed on a daily basis are true testaments to the value of teachers and have further motivated me to continue my love of working with children outside of the school building.

In December of 2011, I became aware of a program that would allow me to help children develop confidence in reading while working in collaboration with my boxer puppy Ava. Reading with Rover, is a program that has been developed to help children improve their literacy by reading aloud to qualified therapy dogs. The dogs volunteer in schools, bookstores and libraries and provide struggling readers with an opportunity to practice their oral reading fluency in front of non-biased literacy mentors. It is evident that students who participate in this program typically feel less stressed about reading aloud and therefore are able to practice essential reading skills while building confidence and self-assurance. A variety of studies have been conducted to show the positive effects that therapy dogs have on children’s reading abilities.

Through the help and guidance of Becky Bishop, Executive Director of Reading with Rover and other trainers at Puppy Manners in Woodinville, Washington I was able to embark on a journey that would allow me to make a dramatic impact in the life of a ten year girl. The memorable events that took place during this life changing experience became inspirations for my digital story.

Reading is a critical skill that students need to possess in order to become successful adults in our society. If struggling readers can be identified early and provided with an opportunity such as Reading with Rover, than their ability to survive and prosper within society can be dramatically changed. All children should be provided with the individual support necessary to become proficient readers and as you will observe in my video sometimes the simple presence of a dog is all that is required.

Education Radio Podcast

Professor Wayne Au, author of Unequal by Design: High stakes testing and the standardization of inequality, talks about how high stakes testing locks some students out of the curriculum and begins a process of devaluing - that changes how students know themselves, how teachers know students, and how society sees young people, especially young people of color.

Spring 2012

Prof. Wayne Au has been awarded the 2012 Early Career Scholars Award by the Curriculum and Cultural Studies SIG of the American Educational Research Association. Wayne received his award at the annual meeting of AERA in Vancouver, Canada in April.

Dr. Au’s academic interests broadly encompass critical education theory and teaching for social justice. More specifically his research focuses on educational equity, high-stakes testing, curriculum theory, educational policy studies and social studies education. He is rapidly becoming a nationally recognized scholar on issues of social justice in education.

Winter 2012

"Husky Buddies" from Woodmoor Elementary School visit UW Bothell

As a culmination of a quarter together learning about mathematics, the teacher candidates from Dr. Allison Hintz's elementary math methods course welcomed their 3rd grade "Husky Buddies" from Woodmoor Elementary School to UW Bothell to go on a mathematical tour of campus. As they visited popular campus landmarks, such as the wetlands and Ancestor sculptures, they solved exciting math problems and discovered hidden treasures right here at UW Bothell! If you would like to take this mathematical tour of campus, click here!

Using video games and the Kinect to teach mathematics

Professor Rogin Angotti is using video games and off-the-shelf motion-sensing game consoles such as Kinect to involve students in mathematics.

Dr. Angotti's work is also featured in the Autumn issue of Insight (pp.8-10)

Autumn 2011

Focus on Multicultural Education

Cherry Banks' work as Chairperson of the Diversity Council at UW Bothell was featured in the latest issue of Viewpoints. The article highlights UW Bothell as one of the most diverse campuses in the state. The Diversity Council was born out of the conversation about the 21st Century Campus Initiative, which defines seven areas that faculty, staff and students wish to bolster as the University of Washington Bothell. Diversity is one of those seven pillars and under the leadership of Chancellor Kenyon Chan and Diversity Council Chair Cherry Banks, the Diversity Council has developed many important diversity intitiatives at the UW Bothell.

Wayne Au on fairness in education

Dr. Au talks about fairness in education and students of color as part of the Education Nation series. Click here for video.

Leading critical educational theorist visits UW Bothell

On October 17th, the UW Bothell Education Program hosted a lecture by Dr. Michael Apple entitled, 'Understanding and Interrupting the Current Politics of Education,' at the Northcreek Event Center. Dr. Apple's address was well received, and the audience of close to 100 included students and faculty from all three UW campuses as well K-12 educators from the region.

Spring 2011

UW Bothell Teacher Education introduces Co-Teaching

“Co-Teaching has brought great benefits to our students with two adults in the room. Both are engaged with students, asking them questions and attending to their needs”, says Dr. Jill Hudson, Principal at Nathan Hale High School in Seattle. Co-Teaching refers to the intentional model for field experiences that has been adopted by University of Washington Bothell, as well as many other teacher education programs throughout the country.

Co-Teaching means two teachers, a Cooperating Teacher (or mentor teacher) and a Teacher Candidate (a UW Bothell student teacher) work together with students, share planning, organization, delivery of instruction, assessment, and physical space. Student teaching is no longer a stand-alone, isolated experience but a sharing of the many roles of a teacher. In the early stages of the field experiences, the Cooperating Teacher usually takes the lead, and as the year progresses, the Teacher Candidate gradually takes on more leadership for planning and facilitation.

Tony Renouard, social studies teacher at Nathan Hale said that co-teaching has allowed his classes to experience more split class seminars resulting in increased participation from the quiet students. He has been able to model more teaching strategies for Nick Cantlon, his Teacher Candidate. Nick has appreciated the “going back and forth between the rhythm of observation and teaching” that they have developed.Christy Fillman, who teaches mathematics at Canyon Park Junior High in Northshore, echoed Dr.Hudson’s views, “you can’t go wrong with two teachers in the room”. She and her Teacher Candidate, Hai Evans, sometimes take students’ responses to problems and record two different ways to solve the same problem, one solution on the front board and one on the back. Hai has appreciated Christy’s presence to give immediate feedback and suggestions. They have become so comfortable working together that they now give each other feedback, calling their rhythm “an openness to move and shift”.

Dave Sage, Principal at Canyon Park, says, “The Canyon Park students have definitely benefited...through the double lenses of the Cooperating Teacher and the Teacher Candidate, the focus is more on their students”. Canyon Park Cooperating Teachers have expressed to him that they have grown professionally because co-planning requires them to be very intentional so that they can explain why they make certain decisions.

The concepts behind Co-Teaching raise questions about the benefits of solo student teaching and whether Co-Teaching prepares new teachers for the ‘real world’. Almost all institutions require some time for Teacher Candidates to be in charge of the classroom and to make crucial curriculum, classroom management, and assessment decisions. During UW Bothell’s first year using Co-Teaching, our Teacher Candidates take the lead for planning and facilitation for six weeks during their student teaching quarter, with the Cooperating Teacher supporting the planning and maintaining some connections with students. Tony Renourd summed up the goal for our Teacher Candidates, “Nick has to be at a point where I am confident he can do this alone”. Through the Co-Teaching Model, Tony knows Nick well and has witnessed his progress so that Tony predicts he will be able to recommend Nick with confidence.

At the end of Winter Quarter for the secondary program and at the conclusion of Spring Quarter for the elementary program, UW Bothell Teacher Education will ask Cooperating Teachers and Teacher Candidates for feedback that will guide development of the model next year. So far, we are finding Co-Teaching beneficial and relevant to the way people learn and teach in the 21st century.

Summer 2010

2010 UW Bothell Distinguished Alumni Recipient: Mahnaz Javid

After earning her Master's in Education at UW Bothell, Mahnaz has been improving access to education around the world. Mahnaz attributes much of her success to UW Bothell's engaging professors that helped stimulate her curiosity about how people learned and the idea of an equal education for all. It was from this passion that Mahnaz founded the Mona Foundation, a non-profit organization which consists of several projects and campaigns ranging from providing solutions to teacher shortages in India to building schools in Vietnam. Mahnaz Javid serves as an inspiration for all who hear her story of dedication to education. She shared her legacy at UW Bothell's 2010 Commencement.